


The Best of All the Things that Come Our Way

by nightshifted



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-07-05
Packaged: 2017-11-09 06:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/452255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshifted/pseuds/nightshifted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quinn and Tina meet again in a women's studies class. (glee-rare-pairs pinch hit)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best of All the Things that Come Our Way

One week before high school graduation, Tina comes to the realization that for all the promises her friends had made to her about keeping in touch and not forgetting about her, she's hasn't spoken to _anyone_ from the graduating class of 2012 since… well, summer the previous year, when they'd all scattered across the country.

She'd even drifted from Mike, who found his place in Chicago and had a tough time keeping his heart in Lima. The breakup had been… _okay_ , and mutual, and after a great senior year that included leading the New Directions to its second consecutive national championship, Tina's looking ahead.

'Ahead' happens to be New Haven, Connecticut. She'd never wanted to be an Asian stereotype, but as much as she loves to perform, she's never really wanted to make a career out of it, either. She'd joined the debate team at the beginning of her senior year, and she'd loved the hell out of that – turns out it's tough to shut her up once she gets started – so for a while, she'd considered law, but now, she mostly just wants to keep all her doors open. A good education will do that.

And god, she's starting to sound like her mother and the entirety of the Lima Asian community, so… yeah. College away from home is going to be a needed breath of fresh air.

\--

Tina enrolls herself in a women's study class that focuses on gender and sexuality in the media. According to the syllabus, it's a tough one that's not really recommended for freshmen, but it fits so beautifully with the rest of Tina's schedule, and she figures her interest in the subject will help her through.

It happens to be the first class on her first day, and she's—she doesn't want to say _eager_ , but she wants to make a good impression, so she gets to the classroom early and sets up her laptop, makes sure she has her voice recorder with her. Preparedness helps offset some of her nerves.

Soon, the classroom begins filling in, mostly with other girls, but it's a little intimidating because none of them look like freshmen, and she's so sure it's written all over her face that she is. The seat next to her rattles when someone slides into it.

"Tina?"

Tina turns, and honestly, if it weren't for Quinn's voice, Tina might've had trouble recognizing her at all. For starters, Quinn's sporting an undercut, her long hair pushed to one side and colored light brown, tinted red under the light. A pair of stylish glasses rest comfortably on the bridge of her nose, and three piercings line the shell of her exposed ear. Not to mention that in all the years Tina has known her, she doesn't remember ever seeing Quinn in a pair of jeans. 

Tina tries not to gape, because honestly, she's seen Quinn with pink hair and like, a Ryan Seacrest tramp stamp, so this is tame in comparison, but—

Quinn smiles fondly at her. "Don't worry. I'm not going to set any pianos on fire."

Tina opens her mouth and quickly shuts it again, prompting Quinn to roll her eyes familiarly.

"Seriously, T—"

"You look really… nice," Tina interjects, flushing at how lame that sounds.

Quinn lets it go and reaches into her bag to pull out her macbook. She's booting it up when their professor starts to go over the syllabus, and Tina tries to pay as much attention as she possibly can to the lecture even though Quinn Fabray is sitting next to her, occasionally glancing at her, all while looking more at peace with herself than Tina has ever seen her.

\--

"Undeclared," Tina answers when Quinn asks for her major at the end of class. "Are you still—drama?"

Quinn nods. "Thinking about transferring to women's studies though, hence the class. I don't know if I want to make a career out of the dramatic arts anymore. Maybe a double-major." She watches Tina pack up. "First class?"

Tina lets out a short laugh. "That obvious?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. On my first day, I stumbled into what must have been a graduate-level astrophysics class on the other side of campus. The worst part is, I sat there for the entire three-hour lecture because I was afraid of drawing attention to myself if I just got up and left in the middle."

Tina winces. "That's definitely worse."

As they're leaving the classroom, Quinn turns to her and asks, "Hey, you want me to show you around campus? Orientation is kind of lame and doesn't show you any of the hangouts."

Tina nods, almost hears herself sigh in relief. "I'd love that."

Quinn gives Tina a tour of the relevant parts of campus, and there's this upbeat energy to Quinn that Tina is equal parts envious of and astonished by. Quinn seems to pick up on it after a little while, and she smiles, almost shy.

"How is everyone back home?" Quinn asks lightly. "I heard you led the New Directions to another national championship."

"It wasn't Rachel Berry-esque," Tina dismisses, grinning, "but I did all right."

"Is it on YouTube? Brittany tried to send me a copy, but I got a two-hour recording of her cat doing handstands instead, so."

Tina laughs. "I'll send you a link," she promises, pulling out her phone and handing it to Quinn so that she can thumb in her phone number and email address. Just as Tina is putting her phone away, Quinn stops abruptly in front of a small café at the edge of campus.

Quinn pushes her hair over her shoulder and smiles. "Ready to meet my friends? Just… I haven't told any of them about Beth, or Lucy, or… Ohio, basically. I don't think it's going to come up, but—"

"Steer clear," Tina nods. "Got it."

Quinn's friends are—well, Tina doesn't want to say that she had any expectations, exactly, but if she did, the three athletic boys sitting in front of them would be the opposite of those expectations. They remind her of Sam Evans, truthfully, and watching them interact with Quinn is one of the strangest experiences of Tina's life. Quinn just seems so… at ease, so far removed from the tense, scared girl she'd been throughout most of high school. Tina tells her as much once Quinn's friends have left.

Quinn laughs. "Yeah, well, hightailing it the hell out of Lima was probably the second greatest decision I have ever made, behind only giving Beth a better life." She sobers a little at that. "I'm not—perfect, Tina. I'm better than I was, but I'm far from—" She bites nervously at her lip. "Let's just say that you caught me on a good day."

Tina's heart aches at the sincerity in the admission, but she doesn't push it. Instead, she steers the conversation somewhere safer, and Quinn appears grateful for it.

\--

The women's studies class becomes Tina's favorite, by far, and it's not even only because Quinn's there. She's always been a shameless feminist at heart, and her lecturer is fun and involved, and the subject is just so _interesting_ that she actually enjoys completing the classwork.

Quinn seems just as engaged, so the two of them spend a lot of time outside of class debating the topics brought up in class. After a particularly heated argument about a woman's right to expose her breasts in public, they are politely but firmly kicked out of the café, so… they move it to Quinn's apartment.

"No roommates?" Tina asks as soon as they step inside.

Quinn shakes her head and offers a self-depreciating smile. She's not wearing her glasses today, and it makes her look particularly vulnerable. "I'm kind of a—I need my alone time."

Quinn's décor is subdued but somehow still bursting with her personality. It feels like an actual _home_ , unlike Tina's dorm. Quinn tells her to make herself comfortable before slipping into the kitchen to grab them both drinks.

"Stripping," Quinn says as she hands Tina a glass of water. Their eyes meet briefly. "Discuss."

"Degrading," Tina says immediately.

"The _act_ of stripping is incredibly empowering," Quinn argues, "but the… business isn't."

"I think it's implied that we're interested in the business side of it."

"Why would that be implied?" Quinn asks, frowning. "So many things in this world are inherently beautiful, but then made ugly by social distortions. At its core, stripping takes an immeasurable amount of comfort with your body, and it's a way to connect with another person."

"But strip clubs are run predominantly by white males who prey on vulnerable women because there's a profit to be made," Tina counters.

Quinn nods. "No, I completely agree. In a perfect world, strip clubs would be more like… theatres."

Tina snorts. "That sounds profitable."

"You kind of have to be a bit of a dreamer to keep your sanity intact in women's studies," Quinn points out with a tiny smile. "I guess I just—regardless the intention, there shouldn't be any _shame_ attached to women who are paid to take off their clothes. It speaks to a greater social and sexual imbalance, sure, but for the women who are actually in that position, well." Quinn seems to lose a bit of steam then, and quickly tacks on, "The stigma is a very misogynistic line of thinking, isn't it? Male strippers rarely face the same level of judgment."

Tina shifts. "Quinn, is this—are you speaking from experience?"

"No. No, I just—" Quinn shakes her head, self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ear. "I just try to put myself in other people's shoes." She nibbles on her lip for a moment. "People in high school always thought I didn't care about anything. It sounds arrogant to say, but I—I think I cared _too much_. I cared too much about my parents' expectations, and what my peers thought, and—" Her eyes flicker to Tina's. "Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a—" She motions helplessly with her hands.

"It's okay," Tina reassures her.

Quinn sighs and throws her head against the back of her couch, stares up at the ceiling. "Sometimes I wonder how things would've been different if I'd just been born a boy."

"You would've peed standing up, for starters."

Quinn turns to Tina, straining to bite back a smile. Her lips twitch for a moment, and then she's laughing hysterically into her hands. Tina giggles along, and when Quinn finally looks up, breathless with mirth, Tina has to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying something really stupid.

\--

So Tina… grows really fond of Quinn's new hairstyle. She's a little embarrassed by how much she likes it. Honestly, it's nothing new. That one summer when Quinn had an identity crisis and joined the Skanks, Tina had found herself helplessly attracted. But back then, Quinn had been a complete _mess_ , so that attraction hadn't extended past the physical, but now it's—

Quinn looks up and catches her staring. Tina blushes and quickly ducks her head, trying to focus on the course pack in front of her. They're studying for midterms together at Quinn's place, but Tina's been having difficulty focusing because this past weekend, Quinn had bleached her hair blond again and streaked it pink, and—

"It's coming off all over my pillows," Quinn says with a soft laugh.

Tina flushes for no reason. "What?"

"My hair dye. It was supposed to be semi-permanent, but I wake up with a pink pillowcase every morning." Quinn runs her hand through her hair. Her undercut has grown out a little. "Do you want to touch it?"

"I—no, I just," Tina stutters.

"No, it's fine. My therapist thinks it's good for me to initiate physical contact when I feel comfortable enough doing it." Quinn offers a lopsided smile. "I might have to come up with a better opener than _do you want to touch it?_ though."

Tina's eyes widen. "Your—you—"

Quinn rolls her eyes in amusement. "Yeah, she also thinks it's good to for me to be open about the fact that I'm in therapy. Less… shame, you know?" She cranes her neck slightly. "Go ahead."

Tina reaches out and runs her hand down Quinn's hair, watching as Quinn takes in a sharp breath. She moves to the other side, letting the short hairs on the shaved part of Quinn's head prickle her fingertips. Tina's eyes flicker to Quinn's lips, slightly parted, and she's pretty sure that her heart is about to beat out of her throat any moment.

"I'm attracted to girls," Quinn blurts out.

Tina's hand jerks against the shell of Quinn's ear. Quinn isn't looking at her, and her cheeks are bright red, but she isn't pulling away either, and Tina seriously wonders if she's misheard.

"Not, uh, exclusively," Quinn tacks on as an afterthought.

"I, um, me too," Tina admits after a moment, her hand sliding down Quinn's neck and dropping off.

Quinn looks up, and Tina almost laughs at the look of surprise on Quinn's face. "But… you and Mike, and before that, with Artie…"

"Do I need to make a list of all the guys _you_ dated in high school?"

Quinn licks her lips. "Fair point."

"And it's not that I'm _not_ attracted to guys," Tina clarifies. "Plus, the only girls out in high school were Brittany and Santana, and…"

Quinn and Tina share a look, and they burst into laughter.

"Yeah, either of those would've been a disaster," Quinn says.

Tina giggles. "I don't know, dating Brittany might be fun."

Quinn gives her a curious look that's suddenly too serious for the conversation they're having. "Is that your type?"

"I, uh," Tina flusters. "Do you mean physically, or—"

"No, I just—I mean, Brittany and I don't look or act alike at all… not that I'm asking if _I'm_ your type because that'd just be—" Quinn purses her lips, the tips of her ears bright red. "Can we talk about something else?"

Tina immediately directs the conversation toward pink kitchen sets and blue work benches and the gender socialization of toddlers. But what Tina really wants to say is that _yes, you're sort of totally my type_.

\--

With all the rounds of discussion that occur in their women's studies class, all the students have gotten pretty close, even the ones that go at each other week after week, so Friday night after midterms, one of the girls throws a party celebrating the survival of said midterms.

They all get boozed up, even Quinn, who is a lot easier to talk into party games once she's had a little alcohol in her. Near the end of the night, none of them really have the manual dexterity to do anything that requires skill, so they end up falling back to truth or dare.

Quinn, Tina notices, almost always picks dare, which seems to serve her just fine until someone dares her to pick the person she most wants to kiss in the room and lay one on them. Quinn's entire body goes rigid, her eyes snapping to Tina's, almost as though involuntarily. Her cheeks are already lightly flushed from the alcohol, but now they appear to burn with anticipation, too.

But as quickly as the moment had formed, it vaporizes, and Quinn grabs the girl to her right and presses their lips together briefly but firmly, rolling her eyes at the drunken catcalls. Tina licks her lips and looks away, embarrassed by her own arousal. She lets herself wonder, just for a moment, what it'd be like to kiss Quinn.

Quinn, strangely, doesn't make eye contact with Tina for the rest of the night.

\--

Quinn isn't in class Monday morning. She's also not answering Tina's texts, which is fine except that Quinn has been acting all weird and distant since the party, so yeah, Tina's a little worried. She sneaks back into the café after class, looking for Quinn, but instead, she finds one of Quinn's friends – Dylan something – at the back, and even though she doesn't know him that well, he invites her over.

"Have you seen Quinn?" Tina asks, distractedly checking her phone. "She never skips this class."

"Here's the thing," Dylan says in lieu of answering. "Quinn's into you."

Tina almost laughs. "That's… ridiculous."

In some ways, in Tina's mind, Quinn is still that head cheerleader who wreaked havoc on McKinley and had all the boys at her feet for most of her years there, still some unreachable presence ranks above her on the social ladder. They might be good friends now, but Tina still remembers being… well, mostly ignored by Quinn back in high school. It's not exactly a healthy line of thinking, Tina tries to remind herself, and she knows she has better self-esteem than that now, but—

"Wait, did she actually _say_ that?"

Dylan smirks. "No, not exactly. But like, trust me. I know. She gets all weird about people she likes."

Tina forces a dry smile, a hint of disappointment flushing her skin. "That's not really reassuring, no offense."

Dylan shrugs playfully. "You don't have to believe me. Just—when you're having your first kid with her, keep in mind that Dylan's a unisex name."

Tina shakes her head and bites back a laugh. "I don't think we know each other well enough for you to start planning out my life."

Dylan laughs, then quickly sobers. "Quinn's probably at home," he finally answers. "She goes radio-silent on us sometimes. Insists it's nothing and generally doesn't appreciate prying, so I leave well enough alone."

Tina compulsively checks her phone again. "I'm going to drop in on her."

Dylan sees her off with a salute. "Good luck, soldier."

As soon as Tina steps out of the café, she heads to Quinn's, nerves coiling at the pit of her stomach. She's mostly forgotten about what Dylan had said about Quinn being into her – operative word being _mostly_ – and is busy fretting over Quinn being… high school Quinn instead of college Quinn.

Quinn answers her door without really opening it, but she's breathing a little heavily and it sounds like she's been crying.

"Can I come in?" Tina asks cautiously into the tiny sliver of space between the door and the doorjamb.

The door creaks open a few more inches, and Tina takes that as an invitation, carefully pushing into the apartment and closing the door behind her. She drops her bag, kicks off her shoes, and finds Quinn curled up on the couch with a blanket. When Tina reaches for her, Quinn recoils so tightly and looks so uncomfortable that Tina has no choice but to retreat again.

"Do you need me to call someone?" Tina asks gently.

"No," Quinn mumbles. "Tough therapy session last night. Didn't sleep well, but I'll be fine." She burrows deeper into the blanket. "Sorry you have to see me like this."

Tina's heart aches. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

"Could you… maybe stay for a while?" Quinn asks quietly.

Tina reaches out again, and this time, Quinn lets her brush the hair away from her face, relaxing into the touch. Tina keeps her hand there, and Quinn takes a deep breath.

"I have… intimacy issues that stem from my inability to trust people," Quinn says, searching Tina's face for something.

"What are you doing?" Tina asks, softly.

"I'm insecure, and selfish, and manipulative," Quinn continues, squeezing her eyes shut.

Tina, in a desperate attempt to get Quinn off this path of self-destruction, says, "I'm not as comfortable with my body as everyone thinks I am."

It's obviously not the response Quinn had been expecting, because her eyes snap open. "You're gorgeous, Tina." Her eyes skim down Tina's torso. " _God_ , I just—I wanted to kiss you at the party, so badly."

Tina plays idly with Quinn's earrings, her heart flipping out of her chest. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I pull shit like _this_ ," Quinn says in frustration. "I didn't even kiss you, and I'm already freaking out and pushing you away."

"You're not pushing me away," Tina tells her plainly. "I faked a stutter for years; I know what pushing people away looks like." She brushes a line down the side of Quinn's neck. "We'll work on that together, okay?"

Quinn reaches up and slips her hand over Tina's, letting their fingers twine loosely. "Okay."

Tina makes a soft sound of surprise when Quinn pushes herself forward to press their lips together, but then she's being pressed down onto her back on the floor, and Quinn's legs are bracketing her hips, and there isn't enough pressure _anywhere_ , so Tina slides her hand to the nape of Quinn's neck and pulls her down, kisses her until they're both breathless.

Quinn tugs roughly at Tina's top until she manages to slip her hands underneath, fingertips stroking over heated skin. Tina moans and arches desperately.

Quinn pulls away and sucks in a deep breath. "Am I—is this—am I going too fast?"

"No," Tina groans. "Too fast would be me telling you that our firstborn's name will be Dylan."

That snaps Quinn out of it, and she sits up, still straddling Tina, and tries to catch her breath. "What? I—even if it's a girl?"

Tina shrugs. "Apparently a unisex name, which is irrelevant because you're gendering. Besides, your name is _Quinn_ , so I don't think you've got much leverage here."

Quinn rolls her eyes. "There are way more girl Quinns than girl Dylans."

Tina smirks. "Still gendering."

Quinn groans in mock frustration, leans down and presses a quick kiss to Tina's jaw, and rolls over to lie flat on her back next to Tina. She stares up at the ceiling, her chest rising and falling as she breathes. After a moment, Tina reaches out and takes Quinn's hand, and they remain motionless and silent for a while.

"What are you doing Friday night?" Quinn asks.

Tina turns her head and catches Quinn looking at her. "Nothing, why?"

Quinn smiles faintly. "Go out with me."

Tina gives Quinn's hand a quick squeeze. "Okay."

 

_fin_


End file.
